A Little About Us

Inbound marketing refers to marketing that helps to bring visitors in through content they are looking for, instead of having to go out through broad and general means to lure prospects and get their attention. Our goal is to enable your company to be easily found, get customers to look for you instead of you looking for them, and draw customers to your website and product through interesting presentation and useful content.

Listing Statistics

Add ReviewMe Button

Add SEO Score Button

Google Adsense™ Share Program

Alexa Web Ranking: 2,414,357

This what your Inbound Marketing Blog Blog Ad will look like to visitors! Of course you will want to use keywords and ad targeting to get the most out of your ad campaign! So purchase an ad space today before there all gone!

Subscribe to Inbound Marketing Blog

With so many big-name companies out there to compete against in the vacation rental marketing business, one of the most difficult barriers to entry in this marketplace is getting your first booking. Next, you need to maintain a constant flow of visitors in order to maximize your occupancy rate to get a return on your [...]
The post Step by Step Guide to Marketing A Vacation Rental Business appeared first on Avada...

With so many big-name companies out there to compete against in the vacation rental marketing business, one of the most difficult barriers to entry in this marketplace is getting your first booking. Next, you need to maintain a constant flow of visitors in order to maximize your occupancy rate to get a return on your investment (ROI).

Lage hotel chains, accommodation booking websites, and vacation rental websites currently dominate all internet marketing platforms. With these companies placing millions into their marketing campaigns, vacation rental owners are just a very small piece of the online marketing jigsaw.

Owning one or two vacation rentals does not justify the kind of marketing budget that the Hilton or even Travel Lodge hotels are investing. Also, dedicating a budget as large as companies such as Agoda, Booking.com, HomeAway, or Expedia do is only going to send the average vacation rental owner bankrupt. There really is no ROI to be made with such large investments if you own one or just a handful of the vacation rental.

As A Vacation Rental Owner – What Will You Learn by Reading This Article?

In this article, we will explain how you can divert from the traditional routes most people use when it comes to internet marketing. This guide will show you how to become a successful vacation rental entrepreneur using a different set of online marketing tools that are already available to you in this tough to crack industry.

We will still be following tradition online marketing models, but the techniques suggested here are customized to help you save money by avoiding the traps of Pay Per Click marketing and SEO in what is already an extremely competitive online marketplace. Instead, you will be using a proven system that has helped many vacation rental owners make a success out of their vacation rental business.

How Do You Market A Vacation Rental in Such A Competitive Marketplace?

First off, you need to invest time into your project. The time I am talking about is research and then adding your vacation rental as a listing to the major accommodation booking websites available. Some you will need to pay an initial fee, others a monthly fee, while some like Airbnb are free until a booking is made.

Once you have a list of websites and a budget in mind, then you need to take the time to list your vacation rental or rentals on all of these websites. The more websites you can add listings to, the more you are increasing your vacation rentals visibility.

“Using multiple listing will help increase the visibility of your vacation rentals”

Make sure your property descriptions are accurate, the photos are up to date and clear (get a professional photographer if you think this will help), and you need to make sure you are able to answer inquiries from potential guests.

The latter means having an email address specifically for your vacation rental business that will inform you which website you have an inquiry on. This will save you time and effort having to continuously log on to each website looking for inquires. Also, if you can have each website’s mobile app installed on your smartphone, it means you will be able to answer inquiries quickly.

As you can see, so far, we are looking at several aspects of a good marketing business model. Visibility comes first. This is because if no one can see or find your property, then you are not going to get inquiries. Next comes the brand image. Having decent photographs and listing descriptions will give those that do see your property that quality feel, which will hopefully lead them to make a booking.

Lastly, you need to manage your sales strategy. This means setting up an easy to use communication channel (your email address and mobile apps) in order to speak with those that have shown an interest in the property by making an inquiry.

What About After Care Service and Brand Building?

At first, you are going to find it difficult to get bookings for your listing with no feedback. When you do manage to persuade someone to put their faith in your property by making a booking, you are going to need to look after them with cotton wool gloves.

This stage of your marketing process is the after-care service or after-sales service that you offer. When your new guests have a question, you need to be able to answer them. Also, if there are any issues with the property, once again, you will need to be on hand to give them a quick answer.

“Offering excellent customer service will help you gain 5-star feedback – positive reviews are as valuable as gold in the vacation rental business”

A lot of people expect a similar customer service from vacation rental owners as they would from a hotel. This is why you should put a lot of thought and effort into how you will deal with certain problems that may arise, and how you will make sure you have a continuous open line of communications for your guests.

Play your cards right at this stage, and you will get that 5-star feedback that you have been looking for. Feedback will result in more bookings, and with more bookings, you can increase the daily, weekly, or monthly rates you offer. This allows you to reach your end game, which is to increase your ROI.

Building Your Own Branded Website

Once you have started to build a solid reputation for your vacation rental or vacation rentals on several different websites, you can now start to build your brand. There are so many options available to you to expand your business at this point. You could buy more properties, become a property management business and manage other people’s vacation rentals.

“You may want to consider using a website as one of your first priorities”

Whichever direction you decide to take, you will need a website. In fact, you may want to consider getting a website as your very first marketing strategy. You can then begin to build your brand there even though you are not likely to get any bookings through a website when you start out.

One website we recommend is the Lodgify vacation rental software and website builder. This is an easy to use site builder that will enable you to manage your entire marketing system and all of your vacation rentals in one place. It can also help introduce your customers to a place where they are able to access an FAQ about your property – this could include ‘direction’ and ‘how to use’ videos that your guests can easily access thus helping you with the ‘customer service’ section of your marketing strategy.

In addition to this, if you choose the right website builder, you will be able to use a channel manager. The aforementioned Lodgify has a channel manager built-in or as a WordPress, Joomla, or Squarespace plug-in or additional coding option.

Channel managers will sync the calendars of every website your property listed on. This is a huge time hack because it means when you receive a booking on one website, you don’t need to log on to every other website and block off the calendar for the property just booked in order to avoid double bookings.

“The channel manager will sync all your calendars on every website your property is listed!”

What’s more is that if you create business cards, and you have given your guests access to a website full of information about your vacation rental and its surrounding area, the chances are if the guest returns, they will book directly on your website’s booking engine. The Lodgify vacation rental software has the entire booking system and payment system built in, and you can rebrand the site to add your logo and brand colors.

After you have been rotating guests through websites you have your vacation rentals listed in through to your website, your brand will start to take shape.

Finally: Keep Your Property in Good Shape – Use the Concept of Life Cycles

One of the biggest mistakes that hotels make is they love to count their profits but do not think about the life cycle of hotel furnishing. Often hotel managers forget that in 4- or 5-years’ time the rooms will need upgrading, the hallways need maintenance and so on.

Do not make the same mistake with your vacation rental because if you do, and you run out of cash, all that effort building your brand will be wasted.

Just make sure that you keep your properties in good shape so repeat guests are coming back to the same place they originally visited. Making sure you understand the concept of business cycles or life cycles will help you manage the right time to use your money to upgrade or place mattresses, tables, chairs, pillows, and bed covers at the right time. This avoids the place getting old or outdated!

This is in fact just a short article on how you should market and operate a vacation rental business. It is a great guide for both those starting out as well as for those that are currently active within the industry. Take heed of the comments made here and do as much as you can apply these concepts to your vacation rental in a way that works with your strategy whether you are offering high end, mid-range, or budget services.

Rich Snippet displays additional data from other pages about the resources being displayed in the search result. In order to work, webmasters must incorporate open standards such as microdata, microformats or RDFa in their web pages. Google does not guarantee that the use of these open standards will result in rich snippets, but webmasters have the option to contact Google [...]
The post Enhance Your Search Engine Listing With Rich Snippets appeared first on Avada...

Rich Snippet displays additional data from other pages about the resources being displayed in the search result. In order to work, webmasters must incorporate open standards such as microdata, microformats or RDFa in their web pages. Google does not guarantee that the use of these open standards will result in rich snippets, but webmasters have the option to contact Google for its inclusion.

Why use Rich Snippets?

The listing with the Rich Snippet ranked higher than the listing without. Snippets—the few lines of text that appear under every search result—are designed to give users a sense for what’s on the page and why it’s relevant to their query.

If Google understands the content on your pages, it can create rich snippets, detailed information intended to help users with specific queries. For example, the snippet for a restaurant might show the average review and price range; the snippet for a recipe page might show the total preparation time, a photo, and the recipe’s review rating; and the snippet for a music album could list songs along with a link to play each song. These rich snippets help users recognize when your site is relevant to their search, and may result in more clicks to your pages.

Types of Rich Snippets:

Breadcrumbs

Events

Music

Organizations

People

Products

Recipes

Review ratings

Reviews

Software applications

Videos

How to implement?

Pick a data format and include the markup in your content. Google suggests using microdata, as outlined at schema.org, but any of the three formats below are acceptable. You don’t need any prior knowledge of these formats, just a basic knowledge of HTML. Mark your content. Google supports rich snippets for these content types:

If you don’t want to verify your email address, you can also link your content to your Google profile. Set up authorship by linking your content to your Google+ profile Create a link to your Google+ profile from your webpage, like this: [box type=”shadow” ]<a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>Google</a>[/box] Replace [profile_url] with the your Google+ profile URL, like this: [box type=”shadow” ]<a href=”https://plus.google.com/112643716740116237079?rel=author”>Google</a>[/box] Your link must contain the ?rel=author parameter. If it’s missing, Google won’t be able to associate your content with your Google+ profile. Add a reciprocal link back from your profile to the site(s) you just updated. Edit the Contributor To section of your Google+ profile. In the dialog that appears, click Add custom link, and then enter the website URL. If you want, click the drop-down list to specify who can see the link. Click Save.

Done

That’s it! Once you’ve added and tested your rich snippets markup, Google will discover it the next time we crawl your site. A few points to note:

It may take some time for rich snippets to appear in search results or Place Pages.

If you’re not considering mobile as part of your digital marketing strategy, you need to pinch yourself and ask why not! Back in April, Google launched their ‘mobilegeddon’ algorithm which looked to knock down the rankings (on a mobile search, at least) those sites who aren’t mobile friendly; the justification being that those sites which DO offer [...]
The post Why Responsive Web Design is Important For SEO appeared first on Avada...

If you’re not considering mobile as part of your digital marketing strategy, you need to pinch yourself and ask why not! Back in April, Google launched their ‘mobilegeddon’ algorithm which looked to knock down the rankings (on a mobile search, at least) those sites who aren’t mobile friendly; the justification being that those sites which DO offer a mobile-friendly version offer a far better level of user experience. Of course, this means that if your businesses website isn’t responsive, you’re missing out on opportunities and likely almost freely giving work away to your competitors. Here we’ve teamed up with Newcastle-Upon-Tyne web designers, Way Fresh. to outline just why responsive web design is SO important for SME’s.

Superior User Experience

The bottom line of responsive web design is that you’ll be offering EVERY USER a superior browsing experience, regardless of the device which they’re using. Whether they’re using a desktop, tablet or mobile device, they’ll be using a site that works for them and displays content accordingly. In a world of multiple different sizes of phones, tablets and desktop displays, offering a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution is no longer acceptable and you’ll quickly find that you’re neglecting large parts of your target market.

The trick with responsive web design is knowing what to display. For example, a mobile version doesn’t necessarily need to display every little detail like a slider, but on a desktop site, it would make more sense. It’s about creating a compromise in which the user experience and expectations are delivered across each device. If a slider takes up too much screen space on mobile, ditch it! It’s more important that your mobile version is easy to navigate.

Better Conversion Rates

If you’re not serving an optimized site based upon different devices, you’re almost certainly missing out on all important conversions. If a user is struggling to find what they’re looking for when browsing on a mobile site or even has to zoom in and scroll to see what you’re offering, there’s a good chance they’ll leave your site and look elsewhere. Even if you’ve got a superior offering, first impressions really do count and it’s absolutely vital that you consider your conversion path.

Responsive web design allows you to offer calls to action based upon the needs and requirements of a browser on different devices, while still utilizing only one main site rather than sub-domains or separate mobile sites.

The bottom line of any business and website is to encourage conversions, and without a responsive site, you’ll quickly find that you’ll struggle to achieve this.

Better Search Rankings

As outlined above, Google rolled out their ‘mobile-friendly’ update back in April, and as such, it should now be seen almost as a necessity to offer a premium mobile browsing experience. While you may have previously held onto strong mobile search positions with a desktop-only site, you’ll now likely struggle without placement on mobile devices as mobile searches are estimated to have now surpassed desktop searches; that’s a lot of potential traffic to be missing out on!

The search engines are still THE single most important method of discovery for suppliers of both products and services across most industries and the last thing you want is to be losing ground due to having an outdated desktop-only website.

At the end of the day, responsive isn’t the future of web design, it’s the present, and if you’re not utilizing it as part of your mobile search strategy, there’s every chance you’re missing out on all important deals.

Research of keywords means it is a process which determines which keywords are to be used in search engines by consumers. But, main question is, how is research of keywords is done? To answer to this question is simple, Google Adwords. This is very useful tool for performing seo services. You can start doing research by [...]
The post How to Use Google Adwords for SEO Keyword Research appeared first on Avada...

Research of keywords means it is a process which determines which keywords are to be used in search engines by consumers. But, main question is, how is research of keywords is done? To answer to this question is simple, Google Adwords. This is very useful tool for performing seo services. You can start doing research by making use of broadest keywords relating to your website. Before starting you should take care of few filter settings. First you should set your preferred language. Next you should set the location of your audience. If you want to target a global audience then you should set it to all countries. Once all these settings are done you should find the best keywords that give you the best search volume.

At the end you will come up with the list of 10 to 15 keywords related to your article or website. Try to eliminate least relevant ones till you find only three to four strong keywords. Take these keywords and write good content emphasizing your keywords; build links for your content from relevant websites to help give your article or webpage relevance for searches.

Author of this article is a freelance writer and blogger. He has written contents for many different sites and written many blog posts. He has developed a website which is totally dedicated on how to prevent hacking and other good information about the same.

Finding the right hosting service is essential for every website. In fact, it is the very foundation of your site, your brand and your entire business. Any possibility of downtime of the server can damage everything you have worked so hard to develop over the years. If you are serious about the website you have [...]
The post Web Hosting Tips for Creating an SEO-Optimized Site appeared first on Avada...

Finding the right hosting service is essential for every website. In fact, it is the very foundation of your site, your brand and your entire business. Any possibility of downtime of the server can damage everything you have worked so hard to develop over the years. If you are serious about the website you have created, then ensuring you are in good hands is essential. You must also ensure that your website is poised as it should be for ultimate success and traffic. Understanding web hosting One of the first things you have to understand is exactly what web hosting is. When a website is created, the information has to be stored someplace online. This needs to be easy to access by potential visitors all around the world. The company that provides bandwidth and space for websites is referred to as the web hosting service.

What type of web hosting do you need? There are a number of different web hosting options available, with the three major ones being: dedicated, reseller and shared.

– Dedicated: This is when you want to ensure your website is the only one on a server. While it is more costly than the other options, it is good if you have a large website with lots of daily traffic.

– Shared: This allows you to share server space with other businesses. This is a very affordable option for businesses that may have a smaller budget.

– Reseller: For anyone attempting to begin their own web hosting business.

You should carefully consider what type of hosting provider would be right for you. Do you have large amounts of traffic on a consistent basis? If so, you should choose a dedicated server. Yet, if you have a smaller business, want a website but don’t want to spend too much money, then the shared server will be the best option. Don’t fall for the free domain gimmick While a free domain may sound appealing, there are a certain number of things you should consider prior to agreeing to this:

– Who actually owns the domain? While the domain may be free, the hosting company will retain ownership of it. This means that you will either be stuck with the company forever, or have to purchase the domain for a large amount.

– Renewal cost? While the first year may be fore, they may charge you a hefty sum to renew it. In some cases this can be 200 percent more than the average cost of a domain name.

It is a good idea to ask plenty of questions while you are researching in order to understand who will actually own the domain and that the renewal fees are at an acceptable rate. What to consider when purchasing web hosting Now that you have a basic understanding of the way web hosting works, there are certain things you need to consider prior to making a purchase:

– Price: How much does the web hosting company charge for services?

– Space: How much space is offered with the service for your files and other information?

– Bandwidth: You need to ensure the bandwidth can support the traffic you have coming to your site.

– Support and Safety: Any quality service will offer round the clock service for issues or questions.

– Control Panel: You need to find a service that offers an easy to use and understand control panel.

– OS: The operating system will play a huge role in how the web hosting service is managed.

Make sure to back everything up While most web hosting providers claim to provide backup services for websites, you should still do your own. This will ensure that no matter what happens with the web hosting service, you have the information you need to get your site back online quickly. If you fail to do this and the web hosting service goes under, shuts down or goes offline you may find that you o longer have your website or the information that was on it. Avoid long-term contracts There are a number of companies that may try to rope you into service for two or more years. However, having to be locked into something like this may be detrimental to your company. Signing up on a month to month basis may be ideal for smaller companies that are unsure of how to keep the site up and going or if it will be successful. When it comes to the hosting service you choose, you cannot afford to cut corners or take chances on an unknown company that you cannot find may reviews about. This may leave you with a website that simply does not perform the way you need it to. Using the tips and information here will help you find the right web hosting service and ensure it is implemented in a way that will ensure success for your business and for your website.

Report Errors

Blogging Fusion Blog Directory is the oldest blog directory on the internet. We were established in 2006 and have been growing in leaps and bounds and its becuase of dedicated bloggers or web site owners like yourself.